Diary of a Parish Priest

Children's Choir in Temporary Recess

Due to unforeseen circumstances, it is necessary to curtail the remaining Children’s Choir practices and singing at masses until such time as a new parish Music Director is with us. We hope to have an experienced and talented director very soon, so it may be possible to reschedule the choir in May or June. We have been busy interviewing and auditioning candidates for the position and hope to be able to announce a decision in the next weeks. I am sure our present disappointment will soon be turned to joy, when once again we raise our voices in praise to our God.

Music Director at Holy Cross

As you may know, Holy Cross parish is searching for a new Music Director. Luckily, we have many qualified individuals interested in discovering our parish. Over the next several weeks, the organists you see and hear at our masses are among those who are being considered for this very important responsibility. Accordingly, please be patient if our liturgical music seems a little off pace, or not "the way we're used to." This seemed to be the best way to enable many people to hear potential directors, asess their skills during real liturgies and permit interviews to proceed without formal auditions.

Let us know your reactions to the musical accompaniment at any particular mass.

Catholic music is so important a part of our Sunday worship that we will invite the best director we possibly can to join us.

Top Ten Worst Hymns of All Time ?

 In an article sure to spark controversy, Joe Carter at First Thoughts has listed his candidates for top ten worst Catholic hymns of all time, complete with links to mp3 performances. Just reading some of the comments following his post tells the tale.

I'm sure some of our "favorites" are on the list. It's not simply, although it is partly, a matter of liturgical taste. The orthodoxy of the lyrics and ease of congregational singing become important criteria for selecting church music and many argue these have been ignored for decades in favor of musical innovation.

Interesting for its uniqueness is one of the more popular songs of back-in-the-day, "Sons of God." This drinking style frat song has passed out of the repetoire, not such much because of its lack of musical taste, but its fatal use of non-inclusive language. "Persons of God" just doesn't have that tuneful feel!

The "top ten" list is a conversation starter, at least and an open question to everyone: does the simple fact that we know a hymn, or were raised with hearing it justify its continued use in the liturigcal repetoire. That surely does not seem to be a sufficient reason that many of the hymns of the 1940's and 1950's are no longer sung, not to even mention those of the 1400 and 1500's!

Read the list (take a listen) if you don't know the tune by heart and see if you can thoughtfully critique Carter's inclusion of the song on the list.

Top Ten Worst Catholic Hymns of All Time

Music Director at Holy Cross Church Position Available

By now you may have read in our bulletin that our Music Director has given notice that he will be leaving Holy Cross at the end of July.

It is unlikely that other arrangements will be made for our summer weddings by then, but in case no music director is in place, he has agreed to play at our summer and fall weddings. So brides and their mothers can be reassured.

The position is approximately 20 hours/week by American Guild of Organists guidelines. We welcome resumes from well-qualified applicants for this position. This is surely a crucial appointment, as the tone and spirit of the liturgy takes so much shape, not only from the Liturgy Committee and the pastor, but the Music Director.

Advent Introits

The congregation at the 12 noon mass did a great job chanting the first ever Advent Introits!  We've been chanting Wednesday morning prayer, so a number of people have gotten experience reading psalm tones and the Gregorian-based tones are easy to sing and within everyone's range.

Many church musicians are urging a return to the sung Introit instead of a thematically chosen "gathering" or "entrance hymn" because the Introits change each week and are related to the Scripture readings of the liturgy, whereas the hymnody is tangentially related. This can be attempted now that English Introits are being written and becoming available for the congregation.

The words are in the missalettes, but neither the pointing of the text which indicates when to change notes, nor the notes themselves are, so additional sheets need to be handed out. If the experiment goes well, perhaps we can continue the chanted Introits into the year and introduce them at other masses.